Description

Reclining on a cloud at the center of the scene, his left arm encircling a terracotta urn, Bacchus raises a crown of stars in his right hand. Ariadne, portrayed with her back turned to the viewer, is seated on blue drapery while a team of putti lift her up into the sky. In the foreground, in the lower right-hand corner, a thyrsus lays diagonally. Considering the audacity of the perspective and the speed of the execution, this painting is probably the preparatory sketch for an unidentified or never completed ceiling fresco. The ornately carved, gilded frame is of Venetian manufacture from 1770 circa.